Minister for Disabled People to open 2016 Business Disability Forum conference

Business Disability Forum (BDF) has announced that Justin Tomlinson, Minister for Disabled People, will be opening the BDF 2016 conference on 'Recruiting and retaining disabled talent', sponsored by Microlink and Ingeus.

Taking place at the Royal College of Nursing on Wednesday 20th April 2016, BDF says the Minister will welcome delegates and discuss the key aims of the government’s Disability Confident campaign.

Tomlinson said, "Business Disability Forum is doing fantastic work in raising awareness of disability issues and I am delighted to attend their 2016 conference.

"If we are to meet our ambition of halving the disability employment gap and getting more disabled people into work then we need everyone to pull together. We know that only minor changes are needed for employers to take advantage of the enormous talent among disabled people and by working together and sharing examples of successful approaches we can make a real difference."

Kate Nash OBE and Lloyds Banking Group will also deliver workshops on ways to improve disability confidence when recruiting and retaining disabled employees.

Nash is the creator of PurpleSpace - the professional development hub for disabled employee networks. In this workshop, entitled ‘Disability confidence from the inside out,’ Nash will address the 'mirror-image' of disability confidence from the perspective of disabled employees.

BDF states that this workshop will also provide guidance for employers who are looking to adopt and strategise disability confidence as part of a whole organisational approach.

Nash commented, "It is vitally important that employers invest in their disabled employees to develop confidence and resilience. It is these things that have the greatest impact on a person’s ability to ask for a workplace adjustment."

BDF will also be joined by longstanding partner and multi Disability-smart Award winner Lloyds Banking Group, who will be delivering a workshop entitled ‘Using work experience to improve disability confidence'.

Delegates will hear how Lloyds Banking Group used their Disability Work Experience Programme (DWEP) in collaboration with BDF Partner Remploy to boost disability confidence and help disabled people build their skills and readiness for work, enhancing their future employability. Table discussions will focus around the value of such placements, barriers and challenges and will provide delegates with the opportunity to share their experiences of targeted development programmes.